Mark Harvey is the owner/operator of Nobody Records, Pumpkinland Studios and 13thTrack.com Halloween Radio.
In my world it tends to be Halloween much of the time. Strange most of the time. Busy all of the time. Join in on the fun, leave a comment and enjoy your stay...

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Here is an article that was written about me a few years ago (edited for the blog)....

Daily Review

San Leandro man hums an eerie tune

By Tasha BartholomewSTAFF WRITER

Thursday, October 31, 2002 - FOR MOST FOLKS, Halloween is the one time of year for tricks and treats, ghosts and goblins, and witches and warlocks. But for Mark Harvey, it's his life's work year-round.Harvey, owner of San Leandro's independent label Nobody Records and Pumpkinland Studios, wants to make sure that future generations will grow up knowing the same Halloween music he heard as a kid during his favorite holiday.Harvey, 33, has archived any and all Halloween-related music, sound effects and ghost stories since he was 3 years old, when he received his first copy of Disney's Haunted Mansion album. He then made them available to the world for free from his online radio station at www.13thtrack.com"This is the only site that offers free Halloween music 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year," Harvey said. "It's a fun way to share my Halloween collection with the world."Harvey said Internet radio is different from the sites violating copyright laws because the music is streaming. No one can download the music.The Web site features Halloween music from different eras and categories including Classics Halloween Radio, a broadcast of fun ghoulish songs from 1930 to 1969; Modern Halloween Radio, a broadcast of creepy songs from 1970 to present day; Instrumental Halloween Radio, a broadcast of eerie soundtracks taken from movies; and a children's broadcast featuring "Charlie Brown's Great Pumpkin" and "Fat Albert's Halloween."

Formative experiences

Harvey's fascination with the holiday began with his own great Halloween experiences as a child, and a visit to Disneyland's Haunted Mansion every year when he was a kid."Halloween is a great time of fantasy and frivolity," he said. "How many other times a year can you dress up and be whatever you want to be without anyone looking at you crazy?"A collector of old vinyl, he is also a musician who decided to record his own Halloween CD three years ago when he moved to San Leandro.Every year since then -- excluding this Halloween -- Harvey has had a child friendly haunt at his home.

Opportunity discovered

While he was putting things together for the first season, Harvey found that he didn't have any good CDs he could use for the haunt, and was disappointed by the various CDs on the market."I wanted creepy music and certain sound effects, but somehow I kept getting screaming and torture and other things that just wouldn't work for a children's event," he said.That's when he decided to record his own soundtrack. Harvey has recorded a series of CDs called "Pumpkinland" that have been used nationally at theme parks and haunted attractions, including Fremont's own "Pirates of Emerson" haunt. His Halloween music has also been used on Radio Disney during the holiday season.

Leading authority

Harvey has been called the No. 1 authority on Halloween music. He has written for several Halloween magazines, and recently gave a lecture on it at the Global Halloween Convergence in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y. That's where he met David Rogers, a prop master for ScreamWorks, a theatrical production company in Cupertino. ScreamWorks uses Harvey's Pumpkinland CDs in its "swamp scene" and "scarecrow alley" at the Conover Mystery Ranch in Hollister."His knowledge of the music is incredible," Rogers said. "He's very well respected in the Halloween industry."